mrlovenstein
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Behind the Scenes, Pt 1
🕑 Added 2022-11-21 14:32:10 +0000 UTCI recently rediscovered a short series I wrote detailing how I turn an idea into a comic. I originally wrote it for my book Kickstarter, but we never ended up using it. I thought I may as well share it here with y'all since I assume at least one of you might be mildly interested. Enjoy!
Sketchy Ideas
Hey gang. As a fun bonus, I thought I’d show what all goes into making a Lovenstein strip. I’m frequently asked questions about my process so hopefully I can answer some of them in this update. Allow me to pull the back curtain, ruin the magic, and show how the sausage is made.
First, I need an idea. I’m thinking about joke ideas all day, every day. It’s become second nature to me. Whenever an idea pops into my head, I write it down. Most of them are bad, but I write them down anyway. If I’m on the go I’ll jot it down in my phone, but I usually write them in notebooks with a Ticonderoga pencil.
You heard me. Just standard, wide-ruled notebooks. I don’t use drawing pads or sketchbooks. I’ve doodled in notebooks since I was a kid and that’s just what my broken brain likes. I think physically writing it down taps into something very primal, as insane as that sounds. I’ve filled dozens of notebooks with bad ideas. They truly look like the scribbling of a mad man.
Once I have something I can work with, I’ll write a script and lay out the panels. I always do a rough sketch of every comic first before switching to digital. That way I can get a feel for the comic as a whole and how I want it to flow.
Quick doodles have a great chaotic energy to them. Some of my favorite poses and expressions were random pencil sketches. For example, I made an entire comic because I loved the way I drew a super stoned dude sitting in a chair.
Next time, I’ll show you how I transform these little doodles into those sweet, sweet jpegs you know and love. I’ll focus on this comic I recently made so you can see how it all comes together. That’s all for now. I hope you enjoyed seeing the source of all this stupid shit.
Comments
Supreme Nachos
At least your characters look almost identical. My notebooks in school were filled with airplanes that looked like something completely different....
Letsan
This is awesome. Looking at artists' processes is always a delight. Also, I think I need a higher res version of the stoned dude doodle on a shirt or something like that.
